Wolf Kiessling
04-12-2004, 4:44 PM
Some of you may remember the posting of a sculpture I am currently working on, an interpretation of the Loch Ness critter titled “Nessie”. When deciding the mounting/presentation of Nessie, I thought a piece of driftwood would be appropriate. However, since a 13 mile beachcombing at North Padre Island, for some driftwood, last Nov produced no results, I decided to create a piece.
I took out a branch from a downed post oak, debarked and cleaned it up. I trimmed off all the unnecessary little branches, dug out the punky/rotten wood and gave it a general shaping. Being a piece of oak, I figured it would crack and it did not disappoint me. It is intended to look like a piece of wood that has been shaped and scoured by the water, sand and sun. What I figure would have taken Mother Nature many, many months I have done in about 30 hours.
It is not yet finished because it still requires sanding plus the application of stain and final finish. I actually think this could be a stand alone piece. It is exactly the sort of thing I would use were I to make a glass topped coffee table (well, probably a little more massive for that). This branch is 29” long x 24” wide x 19” tall. Just right for Nessie who is 36” tall. It will be stained and finished probably with tung oil, maybe poly. Not sure yet. Nessie, who is made from aromatic cedar will be finished only with wax so I will have to see what will go best with that.
The first pic is the branch right out of the parent tree, the second shows it cleaned up, the third shows the final shape and four and five a few details.
I took out a branch from a downed post oak, debarked and cleaned it up. I trimmed off all the unnecessary little branches, dug out the punky/rotten wood and gave it a general shaping. Being a piece of oak, I figured it would crack and it did not disappoint me. It is intended to look like a piece of wood that has been shaped and scoured by the water, sand and sun. What I figure would have taken Mother Nature many, many months I have done in about 30 hours.
It is not yet finished because it still requires sanding plus the application of stain and final finish. I actually think this could be a stand alone piece. It is exactly the sort of thing I would use were I to make a glass topped coffee table (well, probably a little more massive for that). This branch is 29” long x 24” wide x 19” tall. Just right for Nessie who is 36” tall. It will be stained and finished probably with tung oil, maybe poly. Not sure yet. Nessie, who is made from aromatic cedar will be finished only with wax so I will have to see what will go best with that.
The first pic is the branch right out of the parent tree, the second shows it cleaned up, the third shows the final shape and four and five a few details.